Music

8 YouTube Covers So Nerdy You'll Scream

YouTube is the land of the amateur music cover. Anyone with a webcam and a hunger for the spotlight can arrange “Call Me Maybe” and launch it onto the video site, hoping to become the next Lana Del Ray or Karmin.

But while pop performances are the norm, you'll find another undeniably geeky faction in the YouTube universe: nerdy covers. Borrowing from all sorts of pop culture, including video games, TV, film and even hobbies, these covers tickle the nerdy bone as much as they dazzle with musical talent.

Here’s a small roundup of some of the best the geeky cover universe has to offer. What’s your favorite nerdy rendition on video? Let us know in the comments.

1. Nyan Cat

Metalhead and nerdy cover master 331Erock turns the theme song of everyone’s favorite rainbow Pop Tart cat into a head-banging party. He also shows off the complexity involved when performing the song with a single instrument. There’s plenty of improvisation here, which makes the Nyan Cat theme, well, enjoyable for longer periods of time.

Get ready for a sick mosh pit!

2. Super Mario World Theme

The so-called “Athletic Theme” of Super Mario World mimics the frantic pacing of certain game levels, as Mario scrambles from one high platform to another. The multiple elements in the speedy song lend to YouTube user and cover enthusiast Dr. Pez’s many instrumental talents.

This cover has got it all: a banjo, a guitar and even an accordion. Dr. Pez has some helpful backup on percussion, which rounds out the song to make it quite infectious.

3. Still Alive

The Video Game Music Choir was founded in 2009 for the sole purpose of bringing some a cappella flavor to the world’s catchiest theme song. Unsurprisingly, they pull off the little ditty at the end of the first Portal game, "Still Alive," surprisingly well.

It doesn’t have the robotic edge of the original, sung by the deranged and utterly hilarious computer GlaDOS. But it does have the expert pitch and nefariously cheerful attitude, so the choir deserves an extra cake slice or two.

4. Game of Thrones Theme

When HBO’s Game of Thrones unveiled its theme song, groups from all corners of YouTube clashed over the best cover. With more than 5 million views, it’s not a bad idea to consider violinist Jason Yang among the victors.

Deftly layering his violin in multiple phases to encompass all tones, Yang captures the power of the theme song well enough to please the fans of the Seven Kingdoms.

5. Adventure Time Theme

Pendleton Ward’s runaway cartoon success, Adventure Time, is all about embracing nostalgia in a post-apocalyptic world. Its retro bent means it works naturally as a chiptune mashup, and YouTube synth master Joe Jeremiah righteously geeks out the theme for 8-bit fans.

Jeremiah is no stranger to creating synth and chiptune versions of pop culture mainstays, even breaking up and switching around classic pieces of gaming music and repurposing them into new songs. His talent really comes through on the Adventure Time theme, transforming a 15-second ditty into a peppy song that maintains the lighthearted spirit of the show.

7. Misty Mountains From The Hobbit

One of the best things to come from Peter Jackson’s first installment of The Hobbit is the song “Misty Mountains.” It embodies the somber, treacherous and mysterious journey that Bilbo and the Dwarven company take to reach the lands of the old kingdom. Deep and otherworldly, the original song is hard to match.

Although he’s just one man, a cappella performer Peter Hollens manages to perform all of the rich, downright dwarven tones — and harmonizes to boot.

8. HIchop! ("Kiss Me" in Klingon)

Improvised Star Trek is a geek’s dream. The performance company takes suggestions for Star Trek episodes that never existed, via Facebook and Twitter, and fleshes out complete storylines set in the Star Trek universe. The company then releases all episodes on its podcast.

In one story, a 14-year-old Klingon girl takes over the ship. One of the crew members introduces her to the infectious Sixpence None the Richer song, “Kiss Me.” The people involved with A Klingon Christmas Carol translated and performed the song, which was later cut into a YouTube music video.

It’s “Kiss Me” in Klingon. I don’t think it needs further explanation.

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